I've been taking Simvastatin 40mg. tab once a day now for 10 months and of course I've had calf?

... cramps at night while I sleep,fingers cramps every now and then,numbness and tingling in my feet when I stand on them for any length of time and flushing red face everyday which is my biggest side affect that bothers me the most.I'm going to see my doctor for my yearly physical and wanted to know if I should ask him to prescribe me a liver enzyme function blood test and a kidney test since I've been taking a statin now for almost 1 year?

Responses (6)

Yes, you should ask your doctor to do get liver function tests done. Actually you should see your doctor as soon as possible as you have muscle cramps and numbness and tingling in your feet, and so on.

Your doctor should have been running these tests every 3 months being on a statin anyway! You need to get off of that statin! There are new drugs available now for high cholesterol that don't cause the muscle & nerve damage. I hope it's not too late for yours... Mary

Get off the STATIN!! They are now putting up black boxes in the PDR regarding statins (finally). You can control your cholesterol with natural methods also, such as red yeast rice,plant sterols, and niacin (available in many forms which can avoid the flushing effect) which are very powerful supplements in and of themselves. I would try those before I would EVER go on another statin. One of the active participants on this site almost died from statins. It is not worth what you are apparently doing to your body. They are finding out that cholesterol may not be as bad as they once thought depending on the type of cholesterol you have. FI, the"bad" cholesterol actually is now divided into two groups, large bad cholesterol, and small bad cholesterol.

Thanks to all of you that have commented on my statin problem and yes msfino I have tried the red yeast rice,plant sterols and niacin and my cholesterol numbers just didn't come down enough.I tried for 2 years tring supplements,diet and exercise.I'll ask my Kasier doctor if they would do the very specific cholesterol test,but I already know they won't do that test,I've asked for a D3 blood test and he would not write me a prescript for that to be checked.I'll definitely want to get me liver function test done. Thanks again, DFEE

Ask for a creatine test-as it usually shows dead body cells- etc. Tell your doctor that you believe that you have statin toxicity and you want every test for that-including muscle biopsies- put the pressure on him- this site has a link to complain to the FDA-use it- the more we speak up- maybe they'll stop watering down the warnings for side effects. My doctor was going to do liver tests every 3 months- but I was peeing black before we got that far.

I have permenent muscle damage from simvastatin-it and Zocor penetrate the deepest and cause the most damage. I had to hire a dog walker- I was walking over a mile a day 10 months ago- Don't take any type of statin- I'm in pain- can't keep a clean house and don't have enough money to hire someone for that. I just finished physical therapy, I've been in ER for dehydration-in FEB. drank lots od liquid-had to modify my diet to keep out of the ER 4 that. If I won the lottery I'd go to India and get my feet amputated and artificial feet so that I could walk again

I have been on simvastatin for the last 12 years on and off. for the past three years I have had muscle pain and now it is to the place I am on pain pills to try and ease the pain in the legs, thighs, arms, feet, back. I am in so much pain day and night. I cannot sleep without sleeping pills. I went to my dr today and told him I needed to know what is causing all this muscle pain and he said for me to quit taking my simvastatin for 8 weeks. now what i am reading I will never ever go back to taking it. my closterial is high and I have two stints but there must be something else. I dont want to be on pain pills but I cannot take this pain. It is so severe. I feel stiff and sore and like someone beat me all the time. My feet are always cold now. I hope beging off simvastatin works and I hope it is not too late.

Your doctor is an idiot- putting you on pain pills instead of removing the cause of the pain. If you aren't on a walker or in a wheelchair-you have to consider yourself a winner. Sorry-but stopping taking it seldom removes the pain- It might reduce it- are you taking CoQ 10, Vitamin B 6 and 12. They're helping me a lot. What type of pain do you have? skin crawling burning? joints hurting and stiff? Back spasms-don't know why, but most people get it in the right shoulder-then it spasms all over? Ice packs are good for the burning skin and inflamed muscles. I think the dying muscles twist and pull-which causes the pain in the feet and lower legs. Go to a podriatrist and get some help-as the twisted muscles mess up the plantar muscle on the bottom of your feet. If you can't do that- go to Walgreen or Walmart and get Dr. Scholls insert for plantar- that ice- Coq 10 should help you. Also hamstring stretches really helped me.

4 times a day- each leg 4 times and hold the stretch for 45 seconds. The inserts-exercises-ice packs and Coq 10 got me where I can walk unassisted- and physical therapy ultra sound to remove the scar tissue in my ankles from the dying muscles. Good luck and get back to us.

I agree. I will try the coq10 b6 & 12 for sure. Actually I try to be very active. I try walking and do volunteer work but taking the pain pills was the only way I could do anything. I am so mad at my dr. Why did he let me stay on the simvastatin so long when I have told him about the muscle pain over and over. My heart dr did the same thing. I take 1/3 loratab 10 with gabapentin 4 times a day sometimes more. My dr told me I have neuropathy but I dont believe that. Now that I am reading all this I think it is was the simvastatin this whole time. I am asking for that test to see if I have muscle damage. My pain is all over especially in my legs, feet, arms, , amazing my right shoulder is bruised now and my back even my hands. It is throbing pain, stiffness, soreness and migranes. It is kinda like a burning pain. Crying pain. I take hot baths, heating pad, etc. Dr even told me I probably have fibromilgia (cant spell) which I dont beleive either.

I'm so sorry- pain pills mask the pain while you do things like walking that increase the rate of muscle damage. Gabapentin is used for Periphial Neuropathy. Your idiots are probably scared of being sued. Get the shoe inserts, do the hamstring exercises and use ice packs. You have most of the symptoms of statin toxicity. This site used to post an article about having foot and hand amputations caused by statin. One woman had both her hands and feet amputated. I don't think the drug sponsors liked it, so it disappeared. As the muscles die, it causes scar tissue build up-that does what happened to your blood vessels-they get squeezed shut-the blood vessels-then you keep having surgery to help the blood flow. If not done right, you can get gangrene. It's called compartmentalization fascia- they also use another name with compartment in it- depending on what doctor you have. These so called doctors are trying to blame your body for what they did to you.

Have you gone to SpaceDoc.com and read his experience? Remember- we didn't get sick over night-so it takes a while to get well. Ask your doctors for ultra sound physical therapy-it should help your circulation. When I went in-I braced myself for the pain when they touched my ankles. I was napping and they touched my ankle; I screamed from the pain. Then they realized how bad I really was.

What do U suggest for evaluation- you probably know something the rest of us don't know or are over-looking- I've just started driving for more than a mile without pain. I'm getting where I can stand now without too much trouble-walking the dogs around a short block- But I doubt that I'll ever hike again--

I also have been taking simvastatin 40mg for 10 months and not felt good since day one of taking after having 3 stents. I have been telling everyone that I don't feel good, people say I should feel better with the stents but not the case. Well the symptoms was getting worst and what I was feeling was my blood felt like it was on fire through my whole body, like a severe tingling that would craw up my legs and from one hand to the other, like poison in yor blood, if you are feeling any thing close to this you have hope, also felt chest pain from day one too, and also got worst. Stated getting ilregular heart beats and dizzy. Been to my heart doctor paying him $350.00 a visit cause I didn't have insurance 3 times telling him how I feel just to be ignored because the EKG always showed good. I decided on my own to stop taking simvastatin for 7 days and felt better, I did feel better. I took a simvastatin to see if it would make a differance, BAM! Had the worst night.

Stopped again and decided to get another doctor. Change to Lipitor 20mg and the first pill change every thing, my heart feels good, the tingling has stopped. I feel normal again. Some times you have to listen to your own body because only you feel what's going on inside.

I too had stents and was given an array of medications. Thought I would feel better, I didn't! Finally figured out the medication, Ranexa, (to stop angina) was causing me to have chest pain and just feeling terrible even though EKG was showing I was doing good. Now facing the numbness and tingling in feet and hands and have finally decided it is probably the simvastatin. Thank goodness my doctor listen to my fear of Ranexa and decided to try me without it. Made all the difference in the world.